Fun but flawed

Rating: 6/10 (25 August 2005)

This movie was entertaining, though slightly disappointing. I foolishly expected to see a film in which clones run for their lives on an actual island, but there was no island. That was my first disappointment.
The other disappointments mainly came from the abundance of plot holes and unanswered questions. The idea for this film has great potential but sadly this is not reached. Some of the questions I found myself asking include: 1) Merrick (Sean Bean) said that creating vegetated clones did not work, as the transplants failed if they had not experienced conscious life and emotion. But why? There is no conceivable reason why livers or kidneys need to experience consciousness in order to function properly. 2) Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) miraculously grew his original's memories. How? This is never explained. 3) How did the company manage to get away with the massive public scenes they caused as 'cops'? 4) The clones do act childlike and innocent, but not nearly as childlike or undeveloped as their actual age, which is mostly between 6 months and 3 years. The clones are sculpted and educated carefully by the company, but surely it is not possible to get a 2 year old human to the intellectual level of a 15 year old through a careful selection of TV shows? 5) And more to the point, why did they go to so much trouble to educate the clones to 15 year old level anyway? Their entire purpose, after all, is to provide spare parts for their originals.
I could go on but I think I have made my point.
Despite all of this, the movie was not without its perks. Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson play their roles well and manage to give the film some comical moments. Steve Buscemi is his usual quirky and lovable self, and the rest of the acting isn't too bad either. Also the action scenes are exciting, well done and a little bit OTT  just the way I like them.
Another thing I liked was the idea of two fully grown adults discovering sex together having never known anything of it before. And also, of course, the nice dig at the president.
This movie, although flawed, is worth seeing. Overall I would give it 6/10.